Fishing lure



May 8, 195i F. B. SETTERBLADE FISHING LURE Filed May 20, 1949llllllllllllllllllllllllllll l N V E N TO R RHNCESBSETTERBLHDE.

BY W ,M

ATTORNEY Patented May 8, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to fishing lures, plugs or artiiicial baits, moreparticularly to articles of this type which are equipped withself-illuminating means, and has for an object to provide improveddevices of this character.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a iishing lure or thelike having an electric light bulb and a battery for energizing thelatter, means for controlling lighting of the bulb solely in response tohydraulic pressure effective upon submersion of the lure in the water.

In known prior lures incorporating a bulb and battery forself-illumination, lighting of the bulb requires some special act on thepart of the user; for example, manual adjustment before putting the lurein the water, jerking of the line, drawing the lure through the Water,etc.

With the present invention, on the other hand, no extra or special actby the user is involved in lighting the bulb; closing of the electricalcircuit being eiected simply by submersion of the lure in the water, thepressure of the latter acting upon a flexible diaphragm to move a switchmember to circuit-closing position.

Therefore, a further object of the invention is to provide means forautomatically illuminating a fishing lure or the like upon itssubmersion in the Water.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a hollow fishing lureor the like containing an electric bulb and battery, together with aiiexible waterproof member protecting the bulb and battery frommoisture.

inasmuch as generally it will be found desirable to have the lureilluminated as soon as it is submerged to a depth within a range of afew inches to a few feet, the diaphragm against which the hydraulicpressure acts to close the light circuit will be quite thin and hencesubject to rupture if exposed at the outer surface of the lure, where itcould be contacted by objects in the water or punctured by the strikingof a iish.

Accordingly, another object of the invention is to provide, in aself-illuminated shing lure or the like, control mechanism for the lightand including a thin flexible member, together with novel means forprotecting the latter from rupture while at the same time rendering itsubject to hydraulic pressure of the water.

(Cl. 'i3-42.07)

A further object of the invention is to provide anelectrically-illuminated iishing lure or the like whose electric circuitis controlled by hydraulic pressure produced by movement of the lurethrough the water.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a iishing lure havinga longitudinally-aligned battery andelectric bulb for illumination ofthe lure, an electrical connector between the bulb and the far end ofthe battery, Which connector is of adjustable length to t batteries ofvarying lengths.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide novel means forsupporting an electric bulb relative to a battery within a hollowiishing lure or the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel means forobtaining maximum illumination of a fishing lure from a source of lightwithin the latter.

These and other objects are eiiected by the invention as will beapparent from the following description and claims, taken in accordancewith the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application,wherein;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shing lure constructed in accordancewith the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through a shing lure such asshown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detailed view of a modified construction;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a detail of construction concerningsupport of a bulb; and,

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing an alternativeconstruction.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, the reference character I0indicates, in its entirety, a fishing lure comprising a body portion IIof transparent or translucent material having a central longitudinalmain bore I2 terminating in an extension bore I3 of reduced diameter inthe tail or rear end of the lure, the bore portions I2 and I3 preferablybeing joined by an intermediate tapered bore portion I4.

At the forward end of the lure ID is a head or cap portion I5 detachablysecured to the body portion II by suitable means, such as theinternally-threaded sleeve or coupling I6, with the result that the boreI2 is readily accessible for renewed of' a Smau electric iight bum a1and dry cell battery I8 housed therein.

Preferably, the bulb I'I is so disposed that its light isV directedgenerally rearwardly with its glassbudy engaging the tapered portion I4of the bore and the contact I9 at the opposite end of its threaded baseabutting the adjacent bottom end of the dry cell battery I8.

A two-part contact strip 20-2! of suitable conductive material (forexample, copper r aluminum), is disposed in a longitudinally-extendinggroove or recess 22 in the side wall of the bore I2 and has, on the part2 I, a bifurcated terminal portion 23 whose arms 24 extend transverselyof the bore I2 and frictionally embrace the metal base of the vbulb I'Iat the opposite sides of the latter, preferably in contact with theusual drop of solder 26. To provide ample contact surface on the opposedinner edges of the arms 24, the latter may include integral anges 2lextending at right angles to the plane of the arms, and preferably inopposite directions (Fig. 4).

The part 20 of the two-part contact strip 2Il--2I includes a terminalportion 28 extending diametrically of the bore I2 with the centralcontact surface 29 `on its rearward side vdisposed in slightly-spacedrelation to the central contact 3| of the battery I8.

The forward end of the bore I 2 Yis rabbeted, as at 32, and a spacerring 33 of insulating material is positioned therein and carries aninwardly-extending radial `flange 34 overlying the end of the batteryand holding the latter in contact with the bulb I'I. The spacer ring 3'3is slotted, as at 3G, for ypassage of the contact strip 20, vbut theforward end of the slot is partially obstructed by a lip vIVI whichengages the contact strip terminal portion .28 adjacent its junctionwith the strip '28 and holds it against an insulating washer 38 whichoverlies 'the forward end of the usual metal wall or casing of thebattery to prevent grounding of the contact vstrip 28 against such metalwall.

The inner end of the head portion I has a rearwardly-projecting annularflange 4i axially aligned with the spacer ring 33 and cooperating withthe latter to clamp therebetween a 'ring gasket 42 andthe lannularperipheral flange 43 of a flexible diaphragm 44. The end of the spacerring v33 maybe charnfered yto provide `a gasket seat inclined toward`the inner surface of lthe kbody wall to provide three-way sealing. Theaxial dimensions of the threaded sections of the head I5, body I I andcoupling I6 are such that the gasket 432 is compressed between the head,body and spacer ring to provide a liquidtight seal at the joints betweenthese three elements, thereby preventing damage to `the battery frommoisture entering "the bore I2.

The head I5 is chambered, as at '46, one wall of this cham-ber beingcomprised by Ythe flexible diaphragm .44. IOne or more passages 4l'provide unrestricted communication between the chamber 45 and theexterior of the lure, 'whereby, when the lure is submerged in lthewater, the chamber 46 will be vi'llled with water and .the ldiaphragm 44subjected to the pressure of the latter.

The flexibility of the contact strip terminal portion 28 Aand of thediaphragm 44 are such that submergence of the lure vin the 'water a Yfewinches produces sufcient pressure on the rdiaphragm to flex 'the contactstrip terminal portion .28 and cause engagement yof the central contact`surface y29 with 4the central contact 3| of 4 the battery, therebyclosing the electric circuit and lighting the bul-b.

It will be apparent that varying the exibility of either the diaphragmor the terminal portion, or of both, can be utilized to cause thecircuit to close at any desired depth of submergence of the lure.Furthermore, the iiexibility of these members may be such that thecircuit will not be closed by submergence alone, but ncreased pressureon the diaphragm due to movement of the lure through the water, as introlling, will be necessary to close the circuit and produceillumination of the lure.

An important advantage of the above-described construction is that thenecessarily thin diaphragm (preferably rubber) is suitably protectedfrom injury, due to its location entirely within the lure, yet is freelysubject to pressure conditions upon changes in depth or rate Aofmovement through the water.

The contact-strips 2-2I are of such lengths that their adjacent endsoverlap, as at 49, and while structurally independent, are in contactwith Veach other to maintain an electrical connection at all times,regardless of variations in the total overall `length of the battery and.'bulb.

-|The vextension bore I3 of 'the lure tail portion preferably has amirror or reflector 5I positioned therein and retained against arearwardly-facing shoulder 52 by a stud 53 threadedlymounted in the rearend of the extension bore. The rearwardly-directed rays 0f light fromthe bulb il strike the mirror or reflector 5I and are reflectedlongimidinally through the body I'lto i'lluminate the latter.

In Fig. 3 there .is illustrated `a modification wherein a vreflector 54and integral shank '55 are molded into the rearward portion of the bodyIIa.

Fig. 5 shows a modi'iication of 'the bulb-holding contact strip, whereinthe strip portion -2Ia terminates in a transverse ringlike portion 5ihaving integral there-with Ya threaded sleeve 58 for reception andretention of the bulb I'I.

Throughout the vspecification and claims, the term water has been usedin the broad sense, as covering any medium in which vfish .might befound.

While the invention has been show-n in several forms, .it will tbeapparent Yto `those skilled in the art vthat it is not so limited, butis susceptible yof variations and modifications without departing fromthe spirit thereof.

What is Vclaimed isi:

1. In a fishing lure -or the like, a submergible hollow body having anaccess opening, a lamp and battery housed in Vsaid hollow body, meansproviding an electric :circuit for 4said lamp and battery and includinga normally-open switch interrupting the circuit, sealing means for theaccess opening comprising a -exible diaphragm, a closure Vmember forsaid access opening disposed in covering relation to said flexiblediaphragm and `having an opening therethrough for passage of water tothe outer face of the diaphragm, said 'diaphragm being so arranged withrespect to the normally-Open switch that hydraulic pressure von thediaphragm, effective upon vsubrnergence of the lure in water, moves saidswitch to circuit-closing position.

2. In a fishing lure or the like, a submergible hollow body having atleastone opening through a wall thereof, a 'lamp and a battery housed insaid hollow body, means providing an electric of the lure through saidopening, hydraulic 10 pressure in said second chamber acting throughsaid exible diaphragm to move the normallyopen switch to closedposition.

FRANCES B. SETTERBLADE.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,347,423 Vince July 20, 19201,617,091 Wunderlin Feb. 3, 1927 2,002,135 Barton May 21, 1935 2,070,818Winckler Feb. 16, 1937 2,500,442 Waite Mar. 14, 1950

